Productivity and energy efficiency assessment of existing industrial gases facilities via data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist index. (15th February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fernández, David; Pozo, Carlos; Folgado, Rubén; Jiménez, Laureano; Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo
• Is Part Of: Applied energy. Volume 212(2018)
• Page Start: 1563
• Page End: 1577
• Publication Date: 2018-02-15
• Subjects: Data envelopment analysis -- Energy-intensive process -- Energy efficiency -- Malmquist productivity index -- Cryogenic air separation; Power (Mechanics) -- Periodicals; Energy conservation -- Periodicals; Energy conversion -- Periodicals; 621.042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.12.008
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-2619

Abstract

Highlights: Industrial processes call for tools to assess their energy efficiency. We assess the efficiency of 34 existing air separation units by means of DEA. DEA provides efficiency scores and identifies sources of inefficiency objectively. Efficiency targets and benchmark units are identified for inefficient processes. Efficiency changes over time are measured by the Malmquist Productivity Index. Abstract: The current trend towards improving energy efficiency in industry calls for advanced decision-support tools for quantifying the level of efficiency of industrial facilities. This work applies Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to assess the performance of a set of 34 Air Separation Units (ASUs) producing industrial gases via air distillation. We identify the best ASUs according to energy efficiency and productivity criteria and define improvement targets for the units found inefficient. Furthermore, we analyze the temporal evolution of the efficiency scores using the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI), which is calculated from real data of a gas company operating ASUs around the world. Our results provide insight on how to improve the efficiency of existing plants by identifying sources of inefficiency and reference facilities that could be used for benchmarking.